Jay Leno says he once called former President Obama following taunts by his friends that he didn’t really have the number, only to have the commander in chief actually answer the phone.
The former “Tonight Show” host said he became chummy with Obama years ago after booking the then-presidential candidate as a guest back in 2007 when “everybody thought Hillary [Clinton] had it in the bag.”
“So he and I became friends and he gave me he gave me his cellphone number,” Leno recalled during a Wednesday appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
Leno said he was later hanging out with his “idiot friends” after Obama won the 2008 election, when he mentioned he had the president’s digits.
After urging him to ring Obama, Leno said the pals teased him and suggested he didn’t really have POTUS’s number.
“We’re like 45-year-old men, we’re going, ‘Nuh uh.’ ‘Uh huh.’ ‘Nuh uh.’ ‘Uh huh,’” Leno told Clarkson, recounting the friendly jabs.
“First of all, it’s probably shut off since he’s president,” Leno said he told the crew of Obama’s phone.
“I dial the number. I hear, ‘Barack here,’” Leno, 72, said.
“Mr. President,” Leno said he told Obama, “It’s Jay Leno.”
“What can I do for you, Jay?” Leno said Obama inquired.
“Uh, should I throw this number away?” Leno said he asked.
“Good idea, Jay,” Obama told the late-night host.
“You didn’t have a plan?” exclaimed Clarkson, suggesting Leno should have said, “Oh, I was just calling about the crisis in London … if you needed any help.”
The cellphone snafu may not have had lasting implications for Leno. In 2009, Obama became the first sitting president to appear on a late-night TV talk program when he sat down for an interview with Leno on “The Tonight Show.”